Passion of Christ

For information about the Passion of Christ 2013 and how to support this year’s production please visit www.soulbythesea.info

Next weekend marks the beginning of a very special and important time for us as believers, as we journey with our Lord through His passion and death and then rejoice on Easter Sunday when we witness to Jesus’ victory over sin and death!

Here at Soul by the Sea we are in the final stages of our preparations to relive the story of Jesus through the Passion of Christ, due to be held at 2:00pm daily from 29th – 31st March on the lawns of St Peter’s Church, Brighton.

Finances:

We would like to sincerely thank you if you have already made a financial contribution towards this year’s event, which we are hosting over three days, free to the public. However, we still need to raise a further £20,000 to cover production costs and this is causing some cash flow challenges, with the event now only a week away! If you are able to help us achieve our target, with a gift of any amount, it would be a fantastic encouragement to know that you have joined in this very practical way. Details of how to give are on our website and also on the attached ‘How to Donate’.

Our most vital prayer needs are:

For fine weather (also good for local businesses who benefit from crowds gathering to the Passion Play);

For all matters apropos health and safety and allied to that, all matters technical;

And most importantly, that the message of Jesus would be heard and received by many who have not yet given their lives to Christ.

Prayer must undergird this all! You can find current prayer requests on our website.

On-site prayer gatherings:

Beginning with Good Friday morning, prayer held from 9-10am on St Peters south lawns.

Following this, should you wish to join, there will also be a Good Friday Walk of Witness which will involve various Churches coming together at the Old Steine.

Again on the 29th, there will be prayer held at 12:30pm and this will repeat daily during the course of the weekend at our on-site prayer tent.

Volunteers: are still needed in variety of ways leading up to and throughout Easter weekend. A Recruitment Form is attached giving more details.

Final challenge: could you encourage all your Christian friends to invite a ‘not-yet Christian’ friend or family member to the Passion of Christ and then arrange to take them out afterwards for a coffee or even a meal? This would enable discussion on what it is they have just witnessed. Material will be available on the Soul by the Sea site to help guide those enquiring about the Christian faith.

February in the Mirror

Own up, who stole February?

Probably like you with being a short month it has seemed to have hardly started before it was coming to an end with things on the ‘to do list’ left undone.

One of the developments in my ministry (isn’t it great how God shapes, moulds and shifts our ministry according to our age, ability and location) is that of Spiritual Direction. One spin off for me in this, and in particular going through a year long Course with a monthly Training Day, is that I am being deeply challenged about my own life of prayer and spirituality and for the contemplative. I am currently reading an excellent book (loaned to me from my Spiritual Director) by Eugene H Peterson ‘The Contemplative Pastor’ – William B Eerdmans Publishing  Michigan  1989   ( ISBN 978-0-8028-0114-2). Speaking out of USA Pastor context, what he offers translate across the pond very easily, although the challenges he present are far from easy!

Another excellent Course that I have been facilitating is ...

‘Everybody Welcome.’ www.chpublishing.co.uk/feature.asp?id=2394839

This is a 5 session course that explores all aspects of our welcome, our Services, social events and our buildings. Asking questions about the gateways into the life of the community of faith and then what makes people stick.  I can’t recommend this Course highly enough. The great model the Church I engaged with ran the Course after breakfast on a Saturday morning, 8am – 11am.  

Brighton Half Marathon

A real highlight this year with a fantastic new course, along the Brighton & Hove seafront as before, but ‘tidier.’ The weather was bright and sunny, perfect for running. I was therefore doubly delighted to get in at sub-two, 1.58.43 (last year 2.07) and to have raised £162.00 for Off The Fence. This year it was very poignant as only days before a 40 year old man sleeping in the Arches (see picture) was brutally murdered.

The other BIG focus for me at the moment is the Passion Play for Brighton going under the title of ‘Passion of Christ.’  In a recent Grove Booklet, ‘The Gospel Message for Today’ Laurence Singlehurst (author of ‘Sowing, Reaping, Keeping’) argues for the power of telling the Jesus story.

Ev 100 The Gospel Message Today: Language that Connects in Communicating the Gospel 

This is exactly what we are planning to do over three days, Good Friday, Easter Eve and Easter Sunday at a central location in the heart of the city.  Brighton has a high number of Community Festivals and so something like this fits well into the culture and hopefully will engage with those coming to the seaside for the ‘Easter Weekend.’  However because of a strong festival culture what is put on must be of an excellent quality and that means considerable expense making sure the staging and the production is the best we can manage. Check out the web site www.soulbythesea.info